Two-thirds of Hawaii's sex trafficking victims are Native Hawaiian. Senator calls for action.
Sex trafficking of Native Hawaiian women remains a “huge problem” in Hawaii and it has not received sufficient attention, according to Sen.
Sex trafficking of Native Hawaiian women remains a “huge problem” in Hawaii and it has not received sufficient attention, according to Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii.
Hirono has been demanding increased awareness, in addition to federal response, on the sexual exploitation of Native Hawaiian victims. She has been calling for a larger focus on the issue from both the FBI and the Justice Department. Citing data that shows Native Hawaiian women and girls represent 67% to 77% of sex trafficking victims in the state, Hirono said “it is about time” the government take action.
“It is a huge human rights issue,” Hirono told NBC News. “You have categories of people in our country who are particularly being victims of sex trafficking and violence, murder and missing persons.”
According to census data, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander groups make up 10.5% of today's Hawaii’s population. However, they constitute the majority of sex trafficking cases. When looking at child sex trafficking cases, Native Hawaiians represent 37% of victims statewide.
Hirono pointed out that the state has already identified sexual exploitation as a problem across the islands. Last year, the Hawaii State Commission on the State of Women, a government agency aimed at working toward equality for women and girls, established a task force dedicated to addressing the issue. She said, however, that federal agencies like the FBI and the Department of Justice should be looking into these cases as part of the larger efforts to confront the missing and murdered Indigenous people's crisis, she said.
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